An Australian court on Wednesday ordered Airbnb to pay a fine of 15 million Australian dollars for misleading customers by not clearly showing that prices for its property rentals were listed in U.S. dollars, instead of Australian dollars, which are worth less.
Airbnb admitted in the Federal Court of Australia that it had made “false or misleading representations” to about 63,000 customers who had used the accommodations-booking platform between January 2018 and August 2021.
In addition to the fine of 15 million Australian dollars (or about $10 million), Airbnb will provide up to another 15 million Australian dollars in compensation to the affected customers, who had made more than 70,000 bookings paid in U.S. dollars.
Gina Cass-Gottlieb, the chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, a government regulatory agency, said in a statement that customers had reasonably assumed that the prices were in Australian dollars because “they were on Airbnb’s Australian website, searching for accommodation in Australia and seeing a dollar sign.
“By paying in U.S. dollars, these consumers were charged more than they expected to pay, and were deprived of a chance to make an informed decision about whether to make the booking because of this misleading conduct regarding the price,” the statement continued.
Airbnb will contact customers who are eligible for compensation by Feb. 5, 2024, according to the commission. The agency initiated proceedings against Airbnb in June 2022.
Susan Wheeldon, Airbnb’s country manager for Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement that the company fixed how it showed currencies after the problem in Australia was raised.
“While only a very small percentage of Australian guests are believed to have been impacted, we are disappointed that this happened,” Ms. Wheeldon said. “Airbnb would like to apologize to those guests.”
About 2,088 customers complained to Airbnb customer support about being charged in U.S. dollars, according to the court ruling. Some were told by Airbnb customer support that they had chosen to see prices in U.S. currency, even though they had not, the ruling said.
Some of the customers had also been charged fees by their banks for paying in U.S. dollars, the ruling said.
Justice Brendan McElwaine of the Federal Court of Australia said in the ruling that the lack of clarity about the currency was “not the result of deliberate conduct, designed to intentionally mislead.”
The Airbnb platform should have defaulted to Australian currency for people using it in Australia, the ruling said, but there were “bugs and/or edge cases” that caused the system to inaccurately identify some users as being located in the United States.
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Australia’s Federal Court has ordered Airbnb to pay about $10 million ($15 million Australian) in penalties after violating consumer protection laws through misleading pricing, said the country’s competition watchdog on Wednesday.
As millions of passengers begin to fill airports for the 2023 holiday season, Southwest Airlines is still facing consequences for last year's holiday travel meltdown. The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a record $140 million fine against Southwest on Monday, while also introducing new consumer protections and enforcements to help avoid another meltdown, which left thousands of flights canceled and passengers across the United States stranded, from happening again. “We’re pleased to have reached this consumer-friendly settlement, which includes a new, industry-leading policy to compensate Customers during significant delays and cancellations,” Southwest Airlines shared in a statement about the settlement. After the holiday travel meltdown of 2022, the Department of Transportation conducted an extensive investigation which found the airline failed to provide prompt refunds and general service to «hundreds of thousands of Southwest customers». As a result of the investigation, the Department of Transportation says that Southwest will be financially responsible for at least $750 million which includes refunds, future compensation for tickets, and more. In addition to the fine and payments, the DOT enforcement also requires that Southwest establish a $90 million reserve fund for future flight delays and cancellation. “This industry-leading benefit will ensure that Southwest passengers impacted by any future significant disruptions will receive not only flight rebooking, hotels, and food during the delay, but also timely compensation from Southwest due to the inconvenience,” the DOT release shares. Looking ahead to the holiday travel season that is currently underway, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan said the airline is “absolutely ready” in a recent interview, and that the airline has taken many steps to ensure reliable air service, Airline passengers this holiday can also utilize new tools from the Department of Transportation, including an interactive dashboard which shows their rights when flying. “For those who are planning to fly.
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